


Of Families and Tantrums

by Aeneid



Series: Challenges [1]
Category: Gintama
Genre: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, F/M, Rare Pairings, Tumblr: otpprompts
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-05-09
Updated: 2015-05-09
Packaged: 2018-03-29 18:30:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,304
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3906355
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Aeneid/pseuds/Aeneid
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>AU. Unexpected help comes in the form of a past hookup. Or in this case, the elder brother of her best friend whom she still had feelings for. Based on the following prompt: "Imagine your OTP babysitting a friend's baby and one or both of them are inexperienced with children."</p>
            </blockquote>





	Of Families and Tantrums

**Author's Note:**

> New fic from me, and a new pairing to boot. People might say it's a crack pairing, but it could actually work.
> 
> Spoilers for the latest chapter, mind you.
> 
> Notes at the end of the fic. Just to let you know, the fic was based on the following prompt: "Imagine your OTP babysitting a friend's baby and one or both of them are inexperienced with children."
> 
> Enjoy!
> 
> Disclaimer: I do not own Gintama. It belongs to Sorachi Hideaki.

* * *

 

_"He's not too fussy! Just give him his bottle when he gets hungry, and it'll be fine!"_

So said the mother of the child whom she was currently babysitting. Said baby was now hiccupping and calming down from one of his many temper tantrums today, and it was only early afternoon. No matter how much Tokugawa Soyo followed the instructions of her best friend, Okita Souichirou  _was not_  a happy baby right now. At eight months old, he was a rather screechy baby, as Soyo had found out earlier, for he did not like it when his parents were not within his line of sight. Said parents were out for today, as today was one of the only days they needed alone time together, baby, work, and all. Unfortunately, their usual baby-sitter, Sakata Gintoki, Kagura's father, was out of the country doing work with his mentor, Yoshida Toranosuke [1], more popularly known as Yoshida Shouyou throughout their nation.

That left her to do the babysitting, or rather, she volunteered for it; according to Kagura, Souichirou had seemed to like her enough whenever she visited the couple, which was why she thought she could do the babysitting, but now…

She seriously wanted to cry.

Where was her bodyguard when she needed him the most?!

… Oh wait, that's right.

Her bodyguard happened  _to be_  her best friend's husband, and he was currently out on a date said best friend.

Sighing, she checked the diaper of Souichirou, and when she found that it was clean, she picked him up and placed him in her arms in an attempt to rock him to sleep.

Big mistake.

As soon as Souichirou saw her and realized that it was not his mother who had picked him up, he began crying loudly again, making her wince.

She was thankful that the two lived in an apartment that offered soundproofing.

"Shhhh! Baby, come on… d-don't stress me out." She was awful at this, even convinced that she was going to let her friends down, as the child in her arms wailed louder. His sandy-brown hair, a proof that he was Okita Sougo's son, was a mess, and his pale complexion, a proof that he was her best friend's son, was slowly turning pink.

Why did she agree to this again?!

_"Don't worry, I'll take good care of him! Have fun on your date! And that's an order, Okita-san!"_

_She_  was the perpetrator of this whole thing… and she had no one else to blame but herself.

Souichirou's screeches brought her back to reality, and just when she was about to put him back to his room, the doorbell rang. Taking in deep breaths in order to calm herself down and not embarrass herself in front of the person who was at the door, she carried the still screeching Souichirou, who was now in the process of pulling her long hair, making her wince. Securing him in her arms and ignoring the pain, she used her left hand to open the door to check who it was…

… making her mouth drop open in surprise.

 _This_ was certainly not the scenario she expected.

" _S-Shin'i?_ " she blinked.

"… It's Kamui." Said the man standing by the doorstep of the Okita Family's apartment, reminding her of his name in her language. "Surprising to see you here, Tokugawa Soyo."

She was supposed to tell him the reason for her presence in his younger sister's apartment when said reason tugging her long hair harder and was already red in the face from crying. Soyo cursed at the fact that she forgot to bring a hair tie. She completely forgot that her godson's fine motor skills were at a level that brought about pain to people who had long hair; her own raven hair, which stopped at her waist, was no exception. "O-oww! Souichi…! Stop…!"

"… My sister isn't here?" Ou Shin'I [2], called Ou Kamui by everyone else, asked her.

"She went out with… Okita-san."

_This is so awkward._

Despite their common factor being Sakata Kagura, now Okita Kagura, they both took lengths to avoid one another. Some things were never meant to be relived, after all, and it just so happened that memories that both of them neither wanted to remember involved the other.

… Not that they were involved in  _that way_ , but it was rather awkward remembering that the first and only near hook-up she had back in university happened to be with the estranged older brother of her best friend, who she formally met two days after they heavily made out at some bar in Shinjuku. Upon learning that she was only eighteen at that time, and he twenty-two, he bowed his head and gave her the cold shoulder afterwards, which was fine, since she also thought it was awkward to date the older brother of her best friend.

At the back of her mind, she knew that he thought she was beneath him, age gap and all. He was, after all, already an employee of a well-known videogame company. Obviously, he had no time dating college girls, as his tastes would be more refined and would probably be at the level of some office lady.

… And then, there was also the incident involving him and Okita-san three years ago, which had estranged him further from his sister. Kamui had beaten Okita to a pulp upon seeing the two of them at Shinjuku, thinking that Okita was, in Kamui's words, 'defiling her' by bringing her to a 'sleazy area', which happened to be just near Kabuki-cho. When he found out that Okita Sougo was her bodyguard, that Okita was escorting her to a restaurant for a marriage meeting that her uncle arranged, and that Okita was actually dating Kagura, the man refused to apologize for beating up Okita Sougo. When Kagura found out what her brother did, it further strained the siblings' already tense relationship, and the estrangement, which lasted for a good three year, had never been repaired until the birth of Souichirou. The relationship between the siblings was still awkward, according to Kagura, but it was getting better.

As for her and Kamui…

Well, nothing really changed; he still gave her the cold shoulder, she took great lengths to avoid him, knowing that he wouldn't be caught dead acknowledging some girl, but here they were, standing face-to-face at the entrance of her best friend's apartment.

After managing to pry Souichirou's fingers away from her hair, she sighed in relief. "… I don't think Kagura would mind if you made yourself at home and waited for them." As far as she knew, they haven't barred him from their home… though she knew that his visits to Souichirou were supervised heavily by both parents.

They still didn't trust him to be around their son, but with her currently there, she would just have to keep an eye on him.

"Oh, I'm sure  _she_  wouldn't mind." He replied sarcastically, though it didn't stop him from removing his boots by the entrance and stepping up the platform. As soon as he made his way to the kitchen, she rolled her eyes behind him, Souichirou still in her arms. "I take it that you're babysitting him?"

"Yes… but as you can see… he doesn't like me." As soon as she was done speaking, Souichirou grabbed a handful of hair and began tugging it again. "Owww!"

"Hand him over."

Despite a bit of hesitation on her part (she had yet to see Kamui interact with Souichirou), she handed the baby to him, but not without prying away Souichirou's little fingers from her hair again. When the baby was raised by his uncle so that they could see each other eye to eye, he screeched happily, hitting his hands against the older man's cheeks over and over again. Upon attempting to grab on to his uncle's long bangs that was parted in the middle, Kamui drew the baby away, frowning at him. Immediately, Souichirou got the message, and, upon settling against the older man's chest, decided to drool on his uncle's dark-colored shirt instead.

"… He probably thinks you're Kagura." Soyo said in an attempt to lighten the mood. "I mean, you two…"

She wasn't entirely wrong; the two siblings nearly looked the same, save for the hair color (Kamui's hair was a lighter shade of vermillion), the hair length (Kagura kept her hair long, reaching her waist; Kamui kept his short, reaching his nape, while his bangs were long), and of course, the brother was older by four years.

"Yes, I know she and I share the same traits." He remarked drily, securing his nephew by the crook of his arm. "Same mother, after all."

She didn't dare ask what he meant by that, nor did she care… or did she?

Kagura never really talked about her brother to her, knowing that her best friend was at odds with him over the Shinjuku incident (she didn't dare tell Kagura about that near one-night stand). Nor did she talk about Kamui with her husband. As far as she knew, Okita-san was surprisingly over the incident already, but chose not to talk about him with his wife, as he knew that the relationship between the siblings were not going well.

"S-so I heard." She laughed nervously, choosing to sit at the couch, as far away as possible from him. She grabbed her bag, and upon checking her phone, she noticed that there were two messages from her LINE app, all from her best friend.

_'I'm so sorry, but it seems like my stupid brother wanted to visit Souichi. I hope you don't mind…'_

_'I know you can handle him, but if you need help, please don't hesitate to contact us. We'll be home immediately.'_

She definitely did not want to be the cause of them ending their date immediately, and with that, Soyo knew that from now until they get home, she was on babysitting duties for two people: a real baby… and someone who acted like a baby.

 _Oh joy_.

* * *

It was unnerving to see her here, of all places.

As his nephew settled down on his lap and was playing quietly with the rabbit stuffed toy that he gave Souichirou for his first birthday, he tried not to look to the right, as  _she_  was sitting by the far end of the couch, playing a game of sorts on her mobile phone. The television was currently on, and it was currently playing a cooking show, but he didn't really want to watch it.

The television was on, only because he needed some distraction. At least his eyes would focus on the screen, and not on her.

Absentmindedly, he picked up the remote and flipped the channel to other stations, which happened to show more cooking shows. Annoyed that there was no quality show  _anywhere_ , he decided to turn it off. "Do they even have movies here?"

She looked up from her phone. "We've been watching some Disney films earlier until he threw a tantrum."

"I'd take those over these bad cooking shows." He preferred Ghibli, but he knew it wouldn't hurt to watch Disney. Kamui rather liked those films as well, both in Japanese and in English.

She laughed, though he knew it was an uncomfortable one. He cursed the fact that she was still wary of him, after all those years. Then again, he never did anything to make her feel at ease. "I'll set it up again then."

He never really noticed that she was wearing a rather nice outfit that consisted of a pink dress and a frilly shirt that acted as a cardigan of sorts. He knew he was no fashion icon, as he himself wore something that consisted of a dark grey shirt over a white short-sleeved dress shirt with dark jeans and boots, but he knew when a woman looked nice.

… Problem was, the only one he knew who looked nice in  _everything_  was Tokugawa Soyo.

Even if she wore a flour sack, he'd think that she would look nice.

Damn it all, but it was hard to forget her, no matter how much he tried.

"Hope you don't mind Rapunzel… or should I say, I hope Souichi doesn't mind it." She said jokingly when she was done setting up the Bluray player. "I haven't watched this film, to be honest."

He tsked. "How low of you to use my nephew just so you could watch a movie of your own choosing." He said jokingly, hoping that she would hear the sarcasm in his voice. They weren't close, but sometimes, the words just come out of his mouth without him filtering through it, no matter who he was hanging out with.

Which was why it sometimes got him in trouble with his boss.

To his relief, she rolled her eyes at him. "Oh, shush. I know you wanna watch this too, now be quiet."

He kept his mouth shut for the next hour, distracting himself by either tickling his nephew, making him giggle, or by feeding him with his bottle, then making him burp… but it still did not stop him from stealing glances at  _her_. By the time the movie ended, Souichi was fast asleep in his arms, and when the credits began to roll, she finally noticed the sleeping child on his arm and sighed.

"You're way better than me when it comes to caring for kids." She shook her head. She felt disappointed with herself that she had been unable to calm down the child when it was her responsibility to do so.

What made her more disappointed was that  _she_  was the one who was around Souichirou the most, yet he preferred his hardly seen uncle over her. He didn't even cry once!

Then again, babies probably had more inclination towards family members, estranged or otherwise.

He shrugged nonchalantly. "You did point out that he thinks I'm his mom."

She snorted softly at his response. "So I did…" she trailed off, shrugging in response as well. Sighing, she said, "Guess the next time I have to babysit him, I'll have to decline. I'm no good... and it doesn't even come out naturally."

"Maybe when he's older, you'll get better at it." This was the longest interaction he had ever had with her, minus the first awkward encounter they had that involved each of them sticking their tongue down each other's mouths. "Or… you know…"

_... Is he implying that I should have kids myself?_

She didn't know what to think of that when it was the farthest thing from her mind right now… especially since her current status was a rather touchy subject for her.

Just before she could say anything, the door unlocked. "We're back." Said her best friend from the entryway, her voice echoing around the house. As if recognizing that his mother was home, Souichirou woke up in an instant and began making cooing noises. Footsteps sounded her approach, and upon seeing her brother cradling her son, Kagura's smile faltered before recovering. "Kamui."

"Kagura."

 _So awkward,_  Soyo thought to herself as she watched the stilted conversation between the two siblings, who were clearly not okay with the other in the same room. Sighing inwardly, she spoke up. "Welcome back, Kagura-chan. How was the date?"

"Fun, of course." She grinned after setting around five grocery bags on the floor. She made a beeline for Souichirou, who immediately latched himself on her. Happy that his mother was back, he kept bouncing happily on her arm, his crimson eyes shining brightly. "But we figured that we should get home early because we miss this little guy."

Soyo did not miss the implication in her tone that they wanted to be home because her brother was currently there, and wanted to keep an eye on him, just in case he did something to Souichirou. "I see."

"Soyo-sama." Her bodyguard, Okita Sougo, bowed at her as soon as he had set down the grocery bags on the floor. "You have… you have a guest."

Just before she could ask who it was, in came a familiar silver-haired man in a black suit. "S-Sasaki-san!" she gasped, wondering what her brother's bodyguard was doing here, of all places.  _Aniue_  never bothered her on weekends unless something came up. "W-why are you—"

"I'm so sorry, my lady, but there's been an, uh... an emergency came up, and Shigeshige-sama had ordered us to escort you to Ginza immediately."

She grabbed her bag to fish out her phone and, upon seeing that there was one unread message there, it made her stomach drop. Soyo had a bad feeling with regards to the contents of the message, but just to be sure, she tapped open the screen to read it.

_My dear sister, I'm so sorry for interrupting your peaceful Saturday, but I have a formal engagement tonight, and I was wondering if you can act as the hostess?_

Upon reading it, the heiress of the Tokugawa family rolled her eyes and sighed out loud. It was not what she had expected, but knowing her older brother… he was probably killing two birds with one stone by making her go to the party and then introduce her to eligible bachelors who were looking for a wife… or rather, looking for a wife who had both the money and the status that they could flaunt. She was, after all, the sister of the current head of the Tokugawa family; if the Shogunate still ruled the country, he would be the Shogun, and she would be addressed as 'princess'.

The thought of men wanting to marry her because of her status made her ill.

"What's wrong?" Kagura whispered as she approached her best friend, Souichirou in her arms.

"… My brother is getting so desperate in marrying me off that he suddenly invited me to a party by passing me off as a hostess." She clicked her tongue, clearly displeased, her eyebrows furrowing at the thought of spending her Saturday night at some stuffy engagement and getting ogled at by power-hungry men.

"… No wonder Nobume suddenly came in with an armful of formal dresses."

"When the hell did she get in?" for all her formal training in good manners and right conduct both at home and at the elite school for former noble families, she swore whenever she got stressed, something that she learned while finishing her degree at Tokyo University, far away from everything  _elite_.

… Not that  _TouDai_  [3] wasn't elite, but at least she was able to experience a rather normal life. They knew she was from  _the_  Tokugawa clan, but they treated her like every other student.

"Around the time you were checking your phone." Her best friend supplied before shaking her head. "Shigeshige-san… I don't understand why he's trying to marry you off."

"He respects my wishes about not dating and meeting men for the meantime, but the other relatives, especially the older ones, are getting really annoying, and he's appeasing them by making me go to these." Brushing back her bangs, she sighed once more. "Better get this over with. Where's Nobume-san?"

"We told her to go straight to Souichi's room."

Nodding, she picked up her bag, knowing that Nobume would bring even a change of bag to match the clothes that she would be wearing.

By the time she entered the room where her brother's personal secretary was, she uttered under her breath, "I can't wait for dinner." Funny, but she had been getting sarcastic more often… then again, she had been so stressed over both the baby and the sudden summoning that she couldn't help but be in a foul mood.

Add to that,  _him_.

Throughout the whole time they were together, even while she was watching Rapunzel, she felt his gaze on her, and it took  _everything_  in her not to turn around and ask, "Is there something fascinating on my shoulder?"

He might as well have burned a hole on her shoulder with his intense stare, but for him to not act upon it…

She oddly found it disappointing.

_Why the heck am I fantasizing about my best friend's brother doing things to me?!_

She should've felt ashamed, but instead, she found herself smiling at the thought of him from way back, back when they met one another at that club in Shinjuku, back when he introduced himself to her by his real name, and not the one that he went back now that he was in Japan, back when he just boldly grabbed her, placed her on his lap, and then began making out with her in one of the booths in the bar. She was lost in her thoughts during the time Imai Nobume began fixing her long, straight hair and styling it by tying half of her hair behind her head and letting the rest loose behind her back. So lost was she in reminiscing that when her brother's personal secretary was done reapplying make-up to her face, she had to be called out to several times before she snapped back to reality.

"… At least I look decent." She said upon looking at her reflection at the full-length mirror that the other woman had brought along to the apartment. How they had managed to fit it in the car, she had no idea, but then again, her brother's employees were known to be quite efficient in whatever they did. Gone was her red sundress and bolero, and was replaced by a boring, V-neck sleeveless pencil-skirt dress that reached just below her knees. Her periwinkle-colored shoulder bag was replaced by a coral clutch purse, and she honestly felt that she lacked something, as she was used to her bag slung either on her arm or being carried around on her hand.

"Do you need anything else?" asked the navy-haired woman.

"… Please call on Kagura before you go down to the car with the dresses."

"Certainly." After a quick bow, Nobume left the room. Immediately after, Kagura came in.

"Is there something wrong?" asked her best friend in a worried tone. "Did Kamui do anything while we were away?"

"No!" she exclaimed immediately, only for her to clear her throat when the vermillion-haired woman gave her a weird look. "I mean… your brother actually did all the work. I think the next time you need a baby-sitter, he… he would do an excellent job."

Not surprisingly, Okita Kagura looked at her as if she had grown an extra head. "Believe it or not, your son likes him… likes him way more than me, so if you really,  _really_  need someone to watch over Souichi… you can rely on him."

She hoped that she didn't sound like she was defending the man. Soyo knew that tolerating Kamui was something that her best friend stressed over a lot, and the last thing she needed was getting screamed at by her best friend for daring to defend him.

Thankfully, Kagura took it all in stride and muttered something along the lines of, 'I'll think about it…' and 'Sougo will not agree to this…', but not before hugging her to wish her good luck for tonight. Back before Kagura had gotten married, on occasion, she would drag her best friend along to these boring events, only for her best friend to end up bickering with her own bodyguard for her own personal entertainment. Soyo herself barely blinked when the two told her that they were getting married, as she knew that it was only a matter of time before both of them gave in.

After all, it only took them  _six years_  to confess their feelings for one another.

Three knocks on the door told her that it was time for her to get moving, as they still needed to drive through Ginza… and Ginza on a Saturday night meant staying a long while in the car.

Taking a deep breath, she opened the door, nodded at Sasaki Isaburou, and headed for the living room, her best friend trailing behind her.

It was time to leave, as much as she didn't want to, it was her duty to stand by her brother's side tonight and play her part well.

Besides...

Soyo knew that at least when she gets bored later, the image of Ou Kamui playing with his nephew would be a good memory to play in her mind.

That would help her look entertained, even if she was bored out of her wits from the dull conversation everyone was having.

* * *

As much as he wanted to play the apathetic person in this situation, he just couldn't.

She emerged from his nephew's room two hours after she had been led in, and the transformation had surprised him. From a well-dressed young woman, she now looked classy, reminding him of the women he met during company events… and it only took a dress and a change of hairstyle to do so. Though he kept his expression neutral, inside, he was yelling at himself for even feeling an ounce of attraction towards his sister's best friend.

A sibling's best friend was off-limits, even if said sibling had been estranged for a long period of time.

Add to that, he knew he was way beneath someone like her, a member of the Tokugawa clan who would, no doubt, expect her to marry someone who held the same status as she was, and not some…  _foreigner_  who had  _nothing_  except for the clothes on his back and a small piece of luggage when he first arrived in this country for his university education.

It was a doomed to fail, even before they met. That, he knew, and yet…

"Soyo-sama." His brother-in-law, who now had Souichirou in his arms, stood up and bowed at her. "I heard what happened. Shall I accompany—"

He was thankful that he had been able to hear the conversation between Okita and the man called Sasaki, despite pretending to falling asleep on the couch. Kamui felt sorry that she was being pressured to attend an event that she didn't want to be in, and angry that she was going to be forced to an informal marriage meeting of sorts for appearance's sake.

"Please, no need to do that, Okita-san. I have given you the whole day off, and I shall have to deal with this alone." she smiled to the sandy-haired man apologetically. "Or rather, with Sasaki-san and Nobume-san."

"I understand." He bowed his head once more.

"Also, please take the rest of the week off next week." Kamui was half-listening to the conversation as he pretended to watch the program on TV, which happened to be some variety show. "I'll be in Nagoya the whole week for the family exhibit."

He heard his sister suddenly spoke up. "Is that the sword exhibit?"

"Yes. We've been having so many visitors lately to see the  _katana_  collection, so my uncle asked me to help out." From what he knew, there were three families within the Tokugawa family, and the one in Nagoya, he knew, was from the branch family. Tokugawa Soyo, on the other hand, was from the main family.

"Well, that new game made the museum really popular." [4] The excited tone in Kagura's voice was so obvious, he had a feeling that she was grinning from ear to ear. "Good luck! We'll see you two weeks from now?"

"Probably. I'll contact you." By this point, Kamui figured that she was saying goodbye to his nephew when, after some rather loud kissing noises, her voice went up a notch, saying, "Bye, baby! I'll see you again soon! Hopefully, I can handle you by myself next time, so that we don't have to call your Uncle for help or something."

To hear her say out loud that he helped… well, it didn't stop his cheeks from burning from embarrassment, which burned further when she stopped in front of him, blocking his view of the television. "Sorry for interrupting you television watching, but I'm really glad for your help today."

"N-no problem." He nodded, diverting his eyes to her shoulder instead of meeting her amber-colored eyes.

"So, uh… will you be staying for dinner with them?" she asked.

He shrugged. "Maybe." His brother-in-law had extended the invitation, but if it was going to make the people in the household uncomfortable, he might as well leave.

"I see." She tilted her head at him and, from the corner of his eye, she gave him a smile. "Guess I'll see you again some other time?"

"Guess so." he wasn't hoping for it, but to hear her seem like she was looking forward to another encounter with him…

It warmed him.

"Right." She then turned back again to his sister's family and bowed. He then took this time to focus his attention on the television, and not on her back. "Thank you so much for having me over. It was fun… even though Souichirou didn't like me." A nervous laughter followed.

"Don't be. He enjoyed spending time with you, of course." His sister was quick to defend. "Come on over again when you have time, okay?"

"I will!" he only knew she left when the door to the apartment closed, and upon hearing the door slam shut, he stood up.

"I'll be taking my leave—" he began, only for him to be interrupted…

… by his sister, no less.

"You won't be joining us for dinner?"

For her to actually stop him from leaving their place… it was a miracle.

It shocked everyone in the living room right now, for it took her husband several seconds to recover from her outburst before managing to speak up. "… You helped take care of Souichirou today, Kamui. At least let us repay you."

"… If you insist." He shrugged, wondering how they were going to prepare everything on such short notice when he himself had a rather big appetite.

As if reading his mind, Okita Sougo chuckled. "We've prepared for this. My wife has a big appetite, after all… it  _should_  follow that her brother would be the same, right? No worries, we've done our shopping. Soyo-sama gave us a heads up as well, so you should thank her as well for putting on a good word for you and for telling us to put your dinner portion for today's grocery list."

She should  _not_  have done that.

She really should not have done that… but she did, and here he was, unable to come up with a coherent follow-up sentence. He was still stunned with the fact that the Tokugawa heiress was bridging the gap between  _him_  and his sister's family, as he didn't really expect anything nice to happen today, save for the fact that he met her again.

He made a mental note to give a nice present to his nephew the next time he would visit, whenever that would be.

"… I'll be sure to thank her when I see her again." He said nonchalantly, but the way the other man looked at him… it seemed as if he knew.

He hoped not.

Kamui had resigned himself to never seeing her again… but maybe just this once, he would have to break his promise and thank her for somehow easing the tension between him and his sister's family. While he was not rich, he had been taught since childhood that debts should be repaid, and with haste, if it was humanly possible.

Just this once, he would thank her, then stay away from her.

If he had to bury his feelings this time around, so be it.

He had his chance years back in that bar in Shinjuku… and he knew better than to act upon those feelings again.

Tokugawa Soyo was  _not for him_ , and she to him.

It would never work out between them.

**Author's Note:**

> [1] Yoshida Toranosuke/Yoshida Shouyou - before Yoshida Shouin became the Yoshida Shouin, he was known as Sugi Torajirou. After getting adopted by the Yoshida family, a branch family of the Sugi family, he then went by the name 'Yoshida Torajirou'. When he opened his juku, he was known among his students as 'Shouin-sensei'. I decided to go with 'Toranosuke' for the heck of it. :)
> 
> [2] Ou Shin'i - I intended for Kamui's name in this fic to be spelled like this 「王 神威」. The 'Ou' (pronounced as 'Wang' in Chinese) means 'King', and it's the 5th most common surname in China. He still retains his name, but because of his nationality, 'Kamui' would be read as 'Shin'i'. For the sake of lessening the confusion, he's still Kamui in this fic.
> 
> [3] TouDai - colloquial term for Tokyo University (called 'Tokyo Daigaku' in Japanese), the best university in Japan.
> 
> Trivia: the elite school Soyo was talking about would be Gakushuin, an educational institution for the children of Japan's nobility, though it's not currently a private school, and is open to everyone. The daughter of the Crown Prince and the Crown Princess of Japan currently studies in this school. A notable alumni of Gakushuin University would be the current head of the main branch of the Tokugawa family, Tokugawa Tsunenari.
> 
> [4] "Well, that new game made the museum really popular." - no lie, but thanks to the online game Touken Ranbu, the Tokugawa Art Museum in Nagoya saw an increase in its visitor count, all thanks to the fangirls who played the game. The katana Namazuo Toushirou is owned by the Owari branch of the Tokugawa Family, and is currently on display at said museum for a limited time.
> 
> Bonus news: The current heir of the Tokugawa family married a foreigner, and parents of said heir are not pleased with his choice of bride. You can search more about it with the help of Google.
> 
> \--------------------
> 
> Where to begin.
> 
> People would probably find it weird for me to write a Kamui x Soyo fic, but believe me, this isn't the first time I've done so. I've been playing around with the idea of them getting together, but canon Edo-verse Gintama would most probably be hard to get them together, because of circumstances beyond their control.
> 
> No matter how weird the pairing may be, it doesn't change the fact that they did have an interaction, albeit it being him wanting to kill her for fun, and she's probably hating him for being part of the reason why her brother is dead.
> 
> AU, on the other hand, is pretty much fair game, and honestly, writing Kamui minus the mommy issues and his 'I'M GONNA FUCKING KILL ALL OF YOOOOOOU?!' issues made it easier for me.
> 
> He's still not my favorite, he's still a jerk in the canon universe for a lot of reasons, but what the hey, him acting like an awkward adult in this fic was fun to write.
> 
> As always, major thanks to the Tumblr people, namely tangerinespectre for her input. Special mention to anneemay from Tumblr for the encouragement.
> 
> In the end, it went well.
> 
> Lastly, I hope you all enjoyed reading this fic. \\(°∀° )/


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